Bottled Skies
by wingedsilverfang222
Summary: A single bottle of alcohol can ruin someone's life. Tsuna knows this only too well. But with his famiglia Tsuna can overcome anything. He just has to, you know, find them first. Possible eventual low key slash.
1. Chapter 1

**DisclaimerXx Naruto and KHR di not belong ti me and they never will.**

 **Enjoy ~**

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

As a rule, Tsunayoshi Sawada was not a bad person.

However, he was not the imbecile he presented himself as. You could say he was in-between, the grey to the worlds black and white.

He was honest (minus his not-really-rare and more-then-a-little-sarcastic thoughts) forgiving (as long as no one precious to him was hurt) he had real smiles (just not in the context people expected them to be)but overall despite the little comments his mind (ie. His at-that-time-unknown-to-him intuition) provided him Tsunayoshi Sawada was still a small innocent child in a world overshadowed by bleak futures.

He was a brightly lit lantern, unknowingly spreading his influence to the moths that were drawn to him and he would not be put out.

Above all Tsuna was the all encompassing sky and together with his cloud, rain, mist, storm, sun, lightning and frost Tsuna would be someone great.

However, at age five Tsuna knew nothing of the Vongola famiglia or even the mafia as a whole. His father had made sure of that. He was actually fairly normal, well at least as normal as a sky could be, unfortunately his mother was not.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

 **Destiny creates and manipulates the future in a way that no human is to ever understand (checkerface being the only one to be partially exempt) and the future can be changed by a mere flick of the wrist. It was on that day that fate as we know it (often referred to as canon) was changed. But the question remains, was it changed for the better?**

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Nana Sawada was stressed. She hid it well underneath her smiles and gentle humming as she rummaged through her cupboards for the ingredients for Tsuna and her own's dinner but Nana Sawada was stressed. Her husband, Lemitsu, hadn't so much as phoned for _half-a-freaking-year_ and she couldn't even describe how she felt about that. (The word infuriated came to mind)

Theirs had been a whirlwind romance (and so cliche it would make a stranger sick) they had met in a bar, her friends having dragged her there, and whilst her friends partied the night away, Nana had literally collapsed against the bar - accidentally knocking someone's glass over. She had looked up to apologize and their eyes had met. She had been the innocent maiden and he the handsome Italian prince. They had talked the entirety of the night away before parting with a promise to meet again.

And they did, again and again. It wasn't long before he tried to woo her, with roses and words that made her giggle.

They were married exactly two years after their first meeting.

Half a year later she was expecting Tsuna, both Nana and Lemitsu were ecstatic.

It was when Tsunayoshi Leyasu Sawada was born that things started to change. It began with Lemitsu starting to distance himself from both her and their son, it was gradual but still there and Nana saw it. Next were frequent calls to and fro with his workplace, each longer then the previous. Finally, the glances, Lemitsu would glance first at Tsuna and then at her with veiled eyes, his eyes became mirrors and she couldn't, no matter what she did, see what truly laid within.

Then, one day, exactly eleven months after the birth of Tsuna, Lemitsu packed his bags and told her that his work needed his urgent help and that he would call. Said calls (frequently he had said) equated to a half-hour every year and he had only visited once in _five-freaking-years._

He essentially abandoned her.

Nana wasn't as oblivious as she made out to be, she saw the looks of the neighbors, the whispers about the woman who's husband didn't care, who's son was clumsy and friendless, the woman who didn't work and relied on her absent husband. It was beyond embarrassing to hear what they said behind her back, just because they assumed she would not comprehend their words.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Nana reached out a hand for some spices, however, her fingers brushed a bottle of some kind. Her eyebrows rose as she took the time to actually look at the bottle clenched within her palm and then the several other duplicates of the bottle on the shelf behind. She bit her lip briefly before nodding to herself, dinner could wait and Tsuna was in his room.

She poured herself a glass of high concentration alcohol.

( **And thus the wheels of destiny turned anew** )

'Lemitsu she really did love him'

 _(A small amount of hesitation before a second glass is poured her hand shaking slightly)_

'Lemitsu left soon after Tsuna was born'

 _(A third glass, no hesitation now)_

'Stupid, useless Tsuna'

 _(Fourth glass and the burn of the spirit traveling down her throat is muted now and she needs more to get the burn back and she needs to forget to forget to forget to forget...)_

'If it wasn't for him'

( _Fifth glass now)_

'Everything would be perfect'

( _Sixth glass)_

( _Seventh glass)_

( _Second bottle)_

( _Third bottle_ )

( _Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh..._ )

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Five year old Tsuna crept down the stairs at seven that night. Seeing his mother sleeping with her head against the table, surrounded by bottles, he frowned because even he knew that alcohol was a bad and naughty thing. But then again it wasn't as if his kaa-chan was bad, no she was super good, so it should be okay, right? The five year old nodded to himself before covering his mothers form with one of the spare blankets and heading up to bed. ( _He went without dinner that night - something that was to become a regular occurrence in times to come_ )

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

However by the time he was six it was clear to see within the Sawada household that everything was most definitely not okay. Nana had quickly succumbed to the poison known as alcohol and within that single year she was an almost full time alcoholic - at least when it was just them. Outside of the house Nana was quick to revert back to kind, sweet and oblivious Nana. The woman that everyone had grown to love. (But it was fake, so so fake)

In a way this made it worse for Tsuna because it was getting harder and harder for him to differentiate between the sober the inebriated and the true Nana Sawada.

When Nana was drunk she became bitter, vindictive and violent, it just so happened that during one of her phases Nana began a transition her son came to know as punishment. For the duration of the first five punishment (bearing in mind that she would get drunk every other night) she would rant, rave, shout and scream at him. Telling him he was a monster, a freak, dame-tsuna and worse (much much worse). She would always, always, without fail tell him he was the reason Lemitsu left.

However, it was the sixth punishment that truly scratched and clawed and broke a piece of Tsuna's now fragile heart to pieces.

In her drunken stupors Nana began to physically hurt Tsuna.

It started as a single slap (but it was a slap imprinted on both his face and his soul) resulting from when he had tried to pry yet another glass of wine from her grasp. She had, drunk as she was, looked shocked beyond belief that she had hit her son (disregarding the pain that she had already cursed him with) and had fallen into alcohol filled depression. A depression that had undeniably filled Tsuna with hope; maybe just maybe, that small piece of remorse within his mother could spark a rebellion against the bad, evil drink (bearing in mind that Tsuna was five nearly six years old). That he could have his real Kaa-chan back.

It was not to be.

The next day dawned and up to mid afternoon the Sawada household was peaceful and calm. However, Tsuna would have to be blind to not see the looks his mother had been sending him (runawayIdontwanttohurtyou, Iamsosorrytsu-kun and pleaseforgiveme)

It was because of these looks that Tsuna was not surprised when, as he sat upon his bed leaning against the wall reading, his mother slammed the door open.

His eyes had been dull and empty as she stomped over, she raised her hand high before bringing it down and slapping him, hard enough to send his face straight into the wall he had previously been leaning on. He didn't have any time to react before she grabbed fistfuls of his hair, causing spikes of agony to shoot through his scalp, and yanked his head forward and straight into the path of her unforgiving knee. (Rinse and repeat.)

Slap.

Kick.

"Useless!"

Slap

Kick

"Dame-Tsuna, it's all your fault!"

Slap

Kick

"You shouldn't have been born!"

Again and again and again.

It went on.

Eventually though Tsuna was granted the relief of darkness as he blacked out and most of the pain disappeared.

The words didn't. (They remained ingrained upon his soul and it **_burned_** )

Tsuna supposed that the worst part was going down to breakfast the next morning, body practically covered in black-blue bruises and sores, and having his mother (the one everybody saw) smile gently at him and ask if her Tsu-kun was okay.

He just wanted his Kaa-san back.

But he was useless Tsuna so what could he do?

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Blue eyes narrowed behind a mask painted in the likeness of a sly and cunning fox, a grimace stained his face, not that his enemies could see this. So it had been a trap, fuck. His intuition (because no-one be they hitman or boss, survived the mafia without at least some sort of intuition) had been screaming at him from the moment he had accepted the job and he had been the idiot and ignored it.

("Baka-student, still as dense as always")

He grit his teeth in annoyance as one of hundred thugs surrounding him had the gall to laugh,

"Not so strong now are you, Kitsune!"

Alright, keep calm and analyse,

What weapons are unavailable, flames. Damn and things just got harder luckily however he still had his scythe and that meant... determination filled his eyes.

He was going to enjoy this.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

He wasn't enjoying it.

The fox masked boy ducked a stray bullet and flipped over another man, not even pausing at the sound of the bullet passing straight through the head of the grunt previously behind him and, after his jump, straight in the path of the bullet. Barely a second later and the shooter joined his unintentional victim in death as the large silver blade of Kitsune's scythe separated his head clean from his body.

The battle had been raging for close to four hours, after more thugs had turned up to try to kill the flameless Kitsune. Whilst none had succeeded, Kitsune had amassed a rather large array of small cuts, bruises and burns, as well as a large slash to his right leg which had largely hindered his movements and forced him to hold his beloved scythe in both hands due to blood loss weakening him.

It was at the five hour mark that the battle finally ended and he finally took down the grunt holding the key to his flames. The bastard had been cowering behind a tree after seeing the true prowess of the blonde, even without his flames.

And so here he was, he had managed to form one of his portal mirrors using his flames however, with blood loss and exhaustion weighing him down he had been unable to pinpoint an exact location and therefore had no idea where he was. Only that it was some kind of wood... or was it forest?

He slid down the trunk of the tree he had been leaning on and simply looked at the overhanging canopy of verdant leaves.

Seriously, was this the end?

Was all of his training for naught just because of a stupid mistake and a trap?

His vision was fading now, the edges flickering black and he lifted a shaky hand to remove his mask, revealing his face to the world for one last time.

A single tear slid free.

 _I'm sorry, kaa-san tou-san, I failed you._

 _I'm sorry sensei, you're legacy has fallen._

"Excuse me? Hey are you okay sir? Oh gods! Stay awake!"

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

 **Destiny is always mistaken for fate. However there is one key difference. The parh of destiny can be changed and rewritten, whilst fate is set in stone from the start.**

 **And so fate gave way to destiny.**

 **And everything changed.**

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

 **New story!**

 **Yes I'm sorry I should really update my other stories it is just that my muse is a bitch and I can't seem to be able to do anything with my other fics at the moment. But I am not giving up on them and I will try and update as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy this though.**

 **Wingedsilverfang ~**

 **Ja ne**


	2. Chapter 2

**DisclaimerXx Naruto and KHR do not belong to me and they never will**

 **Just a note here, the pairing is not and never will be Naruto/Kitsune x Tsuna. Their relationship within this fic will be as brothers, really close brothers but brothers none the less.**

 **The official pairing is Naruto/Kitsune x Fon**

 **However I will, for those who are interested be putting up a poll for Tsuna's pairing although I am currently leaning toward Hibari or Reborn. There will be nothing explicit written by me although if I one day do end up finishing this feel free to write any lemons or whatever, just pm me and give me credit for my original ideas.**

 **Enjoy~**

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

It was an unwritten, unspoken rule that Tsunayoshi Sawada did not like birthdays.

Well, lets rephrase that, Tsuna had no problem with the idea of the holiday itself, no it's what the holiday entailed for him personally that had him annoyed. Running from multiple bullies at once (because of course they had to find out that it was his 'special day') and being belittled by vindictive teachers was not something that he considered fun, not in the slightest.

And so it was with a heavy heart (and a body covered in bruises) that Tsuna walked home from school on his ninth birthday.

He tugged uncomfortably on the loose bandages surrounding his wrist that concealed the hand prints of one particular bully who had been over-eager in his beating (basically resulting in Tsuna being pinned to the wall while the bully and his friends had beaten the metaphorical shit out of him) Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately considering the many questions that could be asked, the school nurse was not in and Tsuna had been forced to sort out his own treatment. It didn't really matter though, after all with his mother's addiction problems Tsuna had a lot of practise treating his own wounds (and threading back together his bleeding heart).

Tsuna gave a dull glance (eg. Tsuna's version of a glare because Tsuna is to nice to outright glare at something) to the sky, because seriously why did the weather have to be so nice, sun high and sky dyed a pleasant azure, when his day was going so bad? Caramel eyes with an amber tint narrowed slightly before the nine year old sighed and carried on on his way, ignoring the several jeers that came his way from passing peers.

Hitching his bag higher upon his shoulder Tsuna retrieved the key from underneath the doormat and slotted the metal into the lock. Once inside he decided to forgoe leaving his shoes to the side, he was planning on going out into the garden anyway.

Walking down the small stretch of hallway that led to the kitchen Tsuna sighed softly before opening his eyes and preparing a customary "ohayo" greeting toward his mother.

The word died upon his lips as he came to a halt on the threshold of the kitchen.

The bottles were already present, sitting innocently upon the table, inconspicuous and yet not.

No,no it was too early! Why would they already be here..

The panic rose, his eyes growing wide and pierced with denial because there had always, always been a method to his mother's madness, a rota that dictated when the woman was to pick up the poison. Never had she drunk before six pm.

But there she was, leaning against the counter and muttering to herself. Disheveled hair and dark, heavy bags under her eyes. She was a wreck.

Tsuna inwardly took a deep breath and prepared himself to take a step forward into the limelight, after all it was easier to get it over and done with. However, once more, he froze. But this time it was not out of confusion or even reluctance. No. What stopped him now was blatant and crippling fear.

Because as Nana stood, leaning on the side of the kitchen counter.

She held a knife.

Well, held wasn't the right word to use, no it was more like the brunette woman was caressing, as a mother would their child, the blade within her grasp, a small smile spread across her face.

Tsuna remained where he was, in the shadow, paralysed in realization.

She was going to knife him.

For her the words were not enough.

She would carve them into his skin.

Tsunayoshi Sawada was to one day become a brave and just Mafia boss. A man to be admired and a man who was to put his family above all others. Tsuna Sawada would strike the hearts and souls of many in his journey to greatness.

However, nine year old Tsunayoshi Sawada was still a child. And he could still be hurt (even further then he was already) and more importantly he could still be scared. And scared he was.

And so he ran. Well first he sprint-walked through the house and into the back garden before he ducked under the loose fence slate (gods bless his small stature) and out into the back streets. Then he ran. And ran and ran.

Eventually he reached his safe haven (the place he would go when it was all just too much) an abandoned shrine deep within the nearby wood. The place was perfect.

Dark wood beams joined together to create a small building with crawling vines covering the sides. The trees surrounding the shrine were tall with leafy canopies that let only flecks of light fall onto the grass covered ground. However, Tsuna's favourite part of the shrine was the single sakura tree that stood proud next to the building. To Tsuna the tree seemed almost magical, with its wraith like petals that danced through the air like the embers of a flame. The shrine itself was small and the inside sparse although Tsuna himself had dragged two of the spare futons from home into it as well as several candles. His final additions had been cleaning and first aid equipment. He often came here straight from school or at the weekend. At these times he would normally have either light wounds from his bullies or his mother. Cleaning the place had been his first priority as the shack had been filled with dust and cobwebs galore. It had taken him six weeks to clean the building to a standard that he was satisfied with. And satisfied he was, because the little shrine in the woods had become his salvation. Somewhere for him to go when it all got too much, when it all piled up and he needed a break, like now. But he would always be back the next day, he would be back by his home just before his mother arose.

(Because stupid, innocent little Tsuna still believed that one day it would all just blow over and he would have his mother back)

But today was different. Because, as the little sky was bent in half, panting after his small sprint session, he smelt something.

Blood. And lots of it. Tsuna was no stranger the crimson liquid that flowed through his veins, he had seen it far more then any other boy his age (well apart from Namimori's infamous skylark of course) but this was... he gulped, forcing the bile back down his throat and crept closer to the body that was sprawled against his beloved sakura tree.

The man, no teenager was rather eye catching. he possessed long seemingly uncontrollable blonde spikes pulled into a low ponytail, tied by a simple white bandage, behind him with two locks wrapped in bandages framing either side of his face and a fringe that partially fell over his eyes but was styled to fall toward the right side of the teen's face. He had peculiar thin whisker marks on both of his cheeks and alongside his slightly upturned eyes his similarity to a fox was undeniable.

He was wearing tight black pants that were fastened to his lower legs by tight white bandages and tucked into black boots. He wore a high collared grey shirt with the right sleeve seemingly ripped of at the shoulder and the other long enough to cover his hand, although he seemed to be wearing a skin tight three quarter sleeved skintight black top underneath . Said hands were covered by black fingerless gloves with engraved metal plates on the back.

Resting against the bark of the tree next to the blonde was something that made Tsuna pause in his advance. It was a scythe. And not a small one either. Even leaning innocently against the sakura tree the weapon reached a height of roughly five foot five, far taller then poor Tsuna (who was cursed with a measly height of four foot two). The shaft of the weapon was straight and made of a pitch black metal of some kind that seemed to draw in light and hoard it, refusing to reflect in any way. The blade was a shade of silver that existed only in fine jewellery. And said cruel curved blade reached a length of approximately three foot five. A black leather band laid nearby, obviously used to hold the weapon to someone's back. Tsuna couldn't deny that it was hard to picture the teen, who looked deceptively lean and somewhat frail, leant against the rough bark.

However, all of this detail was rather hard for Tsuna to discern seeing as both boy and weapon were literally drenched in blood.

For a second longer the brunette hovered, uncertain, before the blonde, because naturally he wanted to stay away from someone who could potentially wield such a terrifying weapon. But before he could walk away the blonde gave a rather pitiful moan of pain, his eyelashes fluttering to briefly reveal polished aquamarine orbs. And well Tsuna couldn't just leave him there could he?

"Excuse me? H-Hey are you okay sir?"

He stuttered, cursing himself inwardly for asking such a stupid question, of course the teen wasn't okay he was covered from head to toe in blood! However, in answer to his question the teens eyes closed and he slumped even further down the tree as the gentle promises of unconsciousness drew him in.

Tsuna panicked. (Because goddammit this guy was not going to die and ruin his beautiful sakura tree and goddammit why was there **_so much blood_**?)

"Oh gods! Stay awake!" He shouted running forward and pressing his hand to the blondes forehead. Great, so the teen had an unknown amount of lacerations to his body, possible internal bleeding and now a rapidly worsening fever on top of it all, because bruises weren't enough.

Upon seeing that the troublesome teen was not waking up any time soon Tsuna awkwardly positioned himself in order to shuffle-carry the boy into the shrine and deposit him on the spare futon, thanking the gods for small mercies (eg. His forethought of bringing a second futon and that the teen had been relatively light)

Determination sparked deep inside Tsuna as he looked down upon his soon to be patient.

Time to get to work.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

When Kitsune next woke up it was to the sweet fragrance of morning air and the chirping of birds. His memory was hazy although he did remember summoning one of his mirrors with the last of his remaining energy and stumbling to rest against a tree in some kind of woods.

His eyes snapped open.

...

Where was the tree.

And. Wait a second.

Where the fuck was his mask!

...

His panic was obvious now as he raised his hands (hadn't he been wearing gloves?) To his face and clawed at his cheeks desperately.

Were was it?

Gritting his teeth ( his sensei had made sure it was a useful scare tactic against his enemies, should his mask be taken, by sharpening his canines to give him a feral look) he sat up straight, only to been struck with a crippling pain as every muscle within his stomach seemed to protest against his movement.

"Arghhhh!" Kitsune's scream of pain was quiet but nonetheless there and it was all that was needed to alert his company on his state of awareness.

"Wait! Don't sit up! Your wounds will reopen!"

A voice rung out suddenly, for Kitsune at least, and hands (two, so that meant one person his intuition provided him through a haze of pain and they were small, so either a short guy or a child although the chance of the person being female wasn't to be ignored) were there. Pressing gently down on his stomach in a way that seemed to somewhat alleviate the pain whilst simultaneously pushing him back down into the floor, no a futon.

Five minutes passed filled with nothing but the blonde's heavy pants and a near visible tension, because even if this mystery person was helping with his wounds like hell Kitsune was going to trust them!

When the pain finally passed the hands returned and Kitsune was able to discover just how small the hands were. They were tiny, in a way some may see as delicate and frail, and Kitsune could not help but feel more then a little sorrowful.

Because the owner of these tiny hands had obviously treated, or helped treat him.

The owner of these hands had seen blood, his blood and the blood of those he had slain.

The owner of these hands had been tainted by his darkness.

( _And the last thing Kitsune wanted was for **another** innocent to be damaged because of him_ )

A palm was pressed flat against his forehead, Kitsune recognized this as a way to test for fevers or colds ( none had done this for him since his mother... **no** don't even go _**there**_ ) and from the mumbling of his (helper? healer?) companion he was able to discern that he had had a fever which had gone down substantially and was nearly out of his system.

Then the path of the hands changed and he was being gently eased up to be propped against several pillows (and gods was that comfy, not that he would admit it) finally allowing him to link a face to the hands.

The image of a small fluffy, **_bunny_ ** of all things, was the first thing to come mind.

The boy was short and thin. And not in a good way, to Kitsune the lack weight and height was easily seen as a result of malnutrition and not a fashion statement. The kid, because he couldn't have been older then ten, had been rendered frail by a lack of balanced vitamins and nutrients and Kitsune could not prevent the narrowing of his eyes.

He hated any kind of child abuse.

(Of course he always forgets to factor in that he to is still considered a child. Because in his mind he had been forced to be an adult ever since **_that_ ** moment)

He blinked before continuing to categorise the looks of the boy in front of him, who merely blinked back.

He had Pale skin alongside a heart shaped face with a small button nose. His shock of brown hair was similar to his own in that is seemed uncontrollable although the kid's had a more fluffy quality to it, thus adding to his bunny image. His eyes were what really caught Kitsune's attention though (and not in a pervy way, get your minds out of the gutter!) At first glance they seemed to be an average caramel brown, not particularly rare, but the second and closer glance showed that the boy's eyes were far from ordinary. A soft caramel entwined with ribbons of liquid amber alongside a tint of orange stared back at him. They were, _breathtaking_.

Reluctantly the blonde dragged his eyes away and looked down at the boys clothes simple black trousers and a button up white shirt - a school uniform he realised, so why was the boy here?

"E-excuse m-me but how are you f-feeling, um..."

Kitsune's eyes shot up and he automatically glared at the boy, freezing as the child flinched back, as if expecting to be hit for asking a question. Well, this is awkward he mused before lightly clearing his throat and turning his head to the side, just then realising that the side he had turned to face showed a view of an open door and the beginnings of a wood beyond a small patch of grass. Upon the grass stood a large sakura tree and he could vaguely see a large blood stain, stark against the pain bark. Also leaning against the tree was his beloved scythe and he couldn't stop the relief that painted his features when he saw it. He turned back to face the brunette and noted with slight amusement that the boy, who seemed to have been watching him intently, turned bright red and looked down at his knees, of which he was sitting on.

"Sorry, for scaring you but why would you ask that?"

Kitsune finally asked, because really, it was obvious that the boy had been the one to help him and why would he ask that instead of something like, "why were you covered in other people's blood?"

However, the boy simply blinked and cocked his head to the side,

"I-its fine, b-bu-but why wouldn't I?" the boy frowned seeming to grow more confident, " you were hurt... really hurt and I was super worried! I did what I could but once or twice you stopped breathing and I thought you were gonna die and I didn't want you to because the voice in my head told me that you're nice and the voice in my head is never wrong and I..."

Kitsune held up his, thankfully uninjured, right arm in an attempt to shut the kid up, and the brunette immediately silenced himself and shrunk down, almost folding into himself. (Kitsune inwardly frowned at this because why would he be scared of a raised hand, unless... _why was the world so twisted_?)

"You said, the voice in you head. What the fuc- what do you mean the voice in your head? And why would it tell you to trust me? Are you insane or something?" Kitsune asked confused.

The kneeling boy shook his head madly in denial.

"No it's more like a-a feeling. Like something is reassuring me that you are safe..." the boy's face suddenly brightened as he got an idea, "sometimes when the bullies are violent it told me how to dodge! Like this one time a bully tried to hit me and the voice told me to go left, the mean boy fell over and knocked himself out!"

Blue eyes widened as Kitsune finally made a connection,

"Intuition!"

The brunette cocked his head once more,

"Whaaa?"

Meanwhile, Kitsune narrowed his eyes as he looked at the boy,

"Yeah. Everyone has a basic form of it, although mist people call it common sense. But," his gaze sharpened, " you seem to have an advance form of it, and you don't seem to have had any training so... I wonder,"

The boy stared back for a second more before he looked down at his watch and paled causing Kitsune to raise an eyebrow in silent question.

"Hieeeeeee!"

Kitsune jumped slightly and stared at the boy in mild amazement, how had such a small creature been able too make such a loud noise? The boy stood and grabbed a nearby bag, that Kitsune berated himself for not noticing, before running to and out of the door with only a few tossed words over his shoulder,

"I'll be back after school but please don't move or you'll reopen the wounds and it will hurt loads!"

And then he was gone.

Wait.

What?

...

For a few more seconds Kitsune merely sat and watched as the metaphorical dust trail left behind after the brunette faded. What had just happened? He sighed and shook his head before once more attempting to stand... and once more being reduced to a panting wreck when his wounds protested. He tried to access his flames but it seemed that they were still recovering being locked away by that snivelling bastard and thus he could do nothing.

And then he realised something,

That damned bunny hadn't given him his name!

And where was his fucking mask!

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Tsuna didn't know what to think of the teen currently recovering in his beloved shrine.

The blonde had been asleep for three days and had only just woken up. This had allowed Tsuna more then enough time to look over his wounds and fix them up the best he could.

His first thought had been scary.

The teen possessed frosty blue eyes with slightly slitted pupils, and when he had glared at him the slit had become more pronounced. This, alongside those sharp canines and the strangely cold aura thingy that seemed to surround him had inner Tsuna curled in a corner with a dark cloud over his head.

Scary...

But the voice, that the blonde called intuition, whatever that was. Told him different. Well not different, the voic- his intuition did tell him that the blonde was scary, only that the boy was hurting. And not just physically. His intuition told him that something had happened to make the teen like he was, because even the thought of Hibari Kyouya wasn't as scary as the blonde's glare, and that the teen wouldn't hurt Tsuna.

And what reason would Tsuna have to believe that the voi- his intuition was lying? None.

And so, then and there, on his way to school Tsuna decided that he would make the blonde happy. Because he had seen what sadness had done to people (he wanted his kaa-san back, why couldn't she hear him?) And he didn't want any more people to hurt.

Tsuna decided to be the best friend ever to, to ... wait a sec. What was the blonde's name...

"HIIIEEEEEEEEE! I DIDN'T GET HIS NAME!"

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

School was, luckily, normal that day.

Normal translating to only mild bruises and mainly just name calling.

Tsuna was quick to be one of the first put of the building and on his way back to his house (It wasn't home. Because home is where the heart is and Tsuna's heart is locked deep within himself where no one can break it any more the it already is.) To collect some more supplies as well as some food, he forgot to feed the blonde this morning and the teen-whose-name-he-did-not-know was probably starving. He also grabbed a can of food for himself as he had not had lunch. He felt safe when doing this as he knew his mother had arranged to meet with some of her close (but not close enough to see the truth) friends and wouldn't be back until later that night.

He planned on staying in the shrine that night and penned a letter for her saying he was staying at a friends, his normal excuse that she probably didn't believe, and could hardly contain his happiness. Because this time he would be with a friend, well soon-to-be-friend. He already had a spare set of uniforms and other supplies back at the shrine so he was ready to go.

It didn't take long for him to reach the shrine after that but he stopped just before the door to take a deep deep breath and collect himself.

Yeah. He was ready.

"You're back."

Tsuna's eyes widened and he turned quickly to face the sakura tree and the blonde who stared back with bored eyes. In shock he raised his arm to point at the teen but did nothing else. The blonde smirked back at him before speaking.

"I was bored and I couldn't really see outside of that shack-thingy, anything is more interesting then a wooden wall so I figured that I may as well move out here," the smug undertone in his voice was apparent as he met Tsuna's incredulous gaze.

"Are you an idiot! You could have opened up your wounds! And it's a shrine!" Tsuna shouted angrily. The teen bristled and narrowed his gaze,

"You expect me to sit there and watch a freaking wall for seven hours!? I don't care if it's a shrine of a cat's litter box!"

"It was six and a half hours, not that long. You're an adult aren't you? So you should learn some patience!"

The blonde crossed his arms and look to the side a pout crossing his face,

"Shut up! I'm fourteen, not some old codger!" The smirk returned with a vengeance as he flicked his hair, "you think I'd have these luscious locks if I was an old grandpa?!"

For a second Tsuna just stared at the blonde who was proudly wearing a rather annoying smirk, before, for the first time in four years he laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Let's just get you back inside the shrine, ne,"

"Hmph,"

( _Because Kitsune, despite being only a child himself, hated to see a child being mistreated in any way. And his own inner voice, his own hyper intuition told him that this small amout of laughter had made the bunny's day. But if anyone ever asked- he just didn't want to owe the strange rabbit-boy a debt._ )

( **Destiny just laughs and continues spinning the new path that has been decided** )

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Really appreciate reviews and constructive criticism but flamers will face Kitsune's scythe.**

 **Wingedsilverfang~**

 **Ja ne**


	3. Chapter 3

**DisclaimerXx Naruto and KHR do not belong to me**

 **Enjoy~**

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Six weeks had passed since the awakening of Kitsune, they had traded names later on the second day of their acquaintance, because both had been too tired to do much more then drag themselves to their futons (read Tsuna dragged first Kitsune and then himself) on the first day thus the second was introduction day

As a person, Kitsune remained a mystery to Tsuna.

For starters, the fox seemed to have numerous mood swings that Tsuna had later classed as the three main attitudes.

First was Kitsune's main persona, calm. Calm Kitsune was serious and yet gentle.

He tried to distance himself from others and enjoyed the relative peace of the shrine. Calm also possessed a rather pacifistic attitude but would not hesitate should it come down to it. Calm was good at analysis, easily noticing and identifying small disturbances that others would easily miss. It was for this reason that Tsuna tried to hide himself slightly when Kitsune was in this mood. Because he didn't want Kitsune to learn about his mother, he told himself it was out of embarrassment of his weakness.

(But although Tsuna would vehemently deny it if ever asked but whenever he thought of an angry Kitsune he couldn't help but think of the crimson that had soaked the teen and his blade on the day he found him. After all, most of that blood wasn't Kitsune's)

Kitsune's second persona was a personality that Tsuna was far more relaxed with. He nicknamed this mood of Kitsune's, Joker. Joker was the light-hearted side of Kitsune. The one who smiled wide (but not always true) and overdosed on sarcasm.

This side of the fox could be rather childish and somewhat cute. Joker was slightly more sadistic then Calm but when around Tsuna he was fine. The worst that Joker had gone was a few mumbled daydreams that Tsuna had stumbled upon. And believe him it was more than a little scary to hear the blonde talk about what he would do to 'that coward' (whoever it was Tsuna pitied them) because honestly, who fantasized about slowly carving open a man with a rusty screwdriver

(Tsuna couldn't help but find it more worrying that he had simply listened to the threat before telling Kitsune, "don't forget someone will have to clean up the blood," and leaving. The fox really was getting to him.

What made it worse was that it had only been six weeks)

Tsuna had only seen the final mood once.

They had both been leaning against the trunk of the sakura tree, watching as the pink blossom orchestra conducted a dance before their eyes, a habit they had picked up after the second week, when Tsuna had asked a seemingly innocent question,

"Can you actually fight with that scythe? Its kinda cool I guess,"

As soon as he said it, Tsuna regretted it.

The blondes eyes had narrowed, his pupils had slit to become that of an angry predator and once more Tsuna had felt a slight tingle as a really cold chill seemed to seep from the very being of the fox. His voice had been harsh and sharp as he spoke,

"Yes. I wield that blade. But that scythe is in no way cool, it's nothing more than a killing machine Tsuna. Weapons like that scythe shouldn't exist Tsuna, not when all they leave in their wake is bloodshed,"

Tsuna had been pale and shaking by that point from the combined force of Kitsune's words and the strange force. Upon noticing this Calm was instantly back and lifting a gloveless palm to rest soundly upon the fluffy head of the brunette.

"... sorry,"

(The word had been mumbled and quiet but Tsuna had appreciated it none the less )

Nevertheless, even after the force had disappeared and the blonde had turned away Tsuna just couldn't get the image of the fox's eyes out of his head. What could have happened to create such self-loathing for one person?

That had been Tsuna's first and (hopefully) last meeting with Kitsune's most fearsome side.

He had named it Akuma.

Demon.

(Let it be known that Tsuna saw far more than many gave him credit for. Far, far more)

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

On the seventh week, Kitsune asked for his mask back.

He said that now he was nearly healed he had to leave, that he had a job to complete far, far away in Italy.

That all he needed was his mask and then he would be gone.

Tsuna didn't want him to leave.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Tsuna remembered a while back, during one of his punishments his mother had mentioned his father leaving the country for his 'work'.

He later found out that Lemitsu had moved back to Italy.

Kitsune was going to move back to Italy.

Was it going to be the same as with his father? Would he never see the fox again?

But it didn't matter. Because Tsuna was strong and Tsuna would not give in just because Kitsune was leaving. Tsuna was a strong, big boy!

 _A boy who was just nine years old._

 _A boy who was damaged and broken and yet still smiling._

 _A boy who was nothing more than a hurt child struggling to keep control of his life_

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

Kitsune watched with veiled eyes as Tsuna walked up to the shrine.

Today had been his final day spent within Namimori.

His flames had finally recharged and all of his wounds had been healed, the scars serving as a reminder of his stupidity.

(All thanks to the one little boy with the stupidly big heart)

He wasn't able to deny that Tsunayoshi had grown on him, the boy was as much as a conundrum as himself. Going from cowardly to protective to brave in a matter of seconds. He was amazing and more importantly he was pure, unsullied by the darkness that was the mafia.

(Although Kitsune still retained suspicions about the bunny's home life)

But above all Tsunayoshi Sawada was an innocent, a civilian whilst he himself was an assassin, one of the roots of the bloodied tree that was the Mafia. This was more than enough reason for him to leave, because he couldn't and wouldn't let anyone else get hurt as a result of his actions.

All that he needed now was his mask. Because theoretically without that mask Kitsune did not exist. And how laughable that was, the very existence of the feared protégé of the infamous Kyuubi-no-youko, the very existence of the assassin Kitsune lay upon the simple mask of white, shaped in the likeness of a long eared, snarling fox that now lay in the hands of a nine year old.

In a way for the entire duration of his stay at the shrine, Tsuna had been talking to nothing. Because Kitsune was only present alongside the mask, without it he was simply...

"Kitsune-kun, here you go," the mask was given to him swiftly and with only a final glance at the boy that was Sawada Tsunayoshi he slid it on and Kitsune was once more. He was already redressed in his original clothes, freshly washed, thanks to Tsuna of course and alongside the mask he cut a rather intimidating figure especially when,

"Kitsune-kun! Your hair its!"

Woven into the making of the mask was an intricate layer of mist flames. These flames worked to dye his hair a deep, bloody crimson, although it was only effective when he was wearing the mask, coincidentally the red was the exact same shade as his sensei's had been.

"It keeps my identity secret, a kind of... hair dye," he finally answered Tsuna before turning toward the trees, ready to make his exit. But something stopped him.

He tilted his head slightly and lifted the corner of his mask, so as to look Tsuna straight in the eye, a small amount of red hair fading back into brilliant gold as he did.

Blue met brown.

(Aquamarine met amber)

"If we ever meet again, without this mask between us.

Then call me Naruto.

Naruto Namikaze."

He quickly readjusted his mask, deciding not to linger any further, before jumping into the trees and summoning a mirror portal that would lead him straight home to Italy.

He had always hated good-byes.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

"If we ever meet again, without this mask between us...

Then call me Naruto.

Naruto Namikaze."

Naruto Namikaze.

Naruto.

It suited him, Tsuna thought, because Kitsune was, in essence, a maelstrom.

Naruto had drawn him in and provided with a sort of comfort that he had desperately needed. The gentle encouragement and the calm humour that only an older sibling could provide, and yet Kitsu- no Naruto probably hadn't even thought of him as much more than a means to an end. Tsuna had nursed the blonde back to health and the entrusting of his name was probably nothing more than a way for him to pay of his debt towards the nine year old.

And like a maelstrom Naruto would leave and he wouldn't return because, well... why would he? There was nothing for him in Namimori.

But Tsuna told himself that he didn't mind, because even if Naruto forgot about him he would not forget the fox. He had been his first and probably last friend.

(What Tsuna failed to notice is although a maelstrom is a tempest of wind and water it still plays to the whim of the all-engulfing sky. The sky is the reason the maelstrom existed and Tsuna had unknowingly pulled Naruto into his territory the moment he had saved him. There was no chance of the fox forgetting him.

After all, how does one go about forgetting the one thing that keeps them rooted to reality?)

(And not once did Tsuna suspect that Naruto may have just been named after the fishcake, within Ramen. Because, well, ramen was the food of the gods, as his Naruto's mother would have confirmed)

And if Tsuna made a habit of visiting the shrine every other night, just to check for a certain blonde, well no one was there to see.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

"You have news on the Onda(wave) family, Reborn?"

A baby clad in a black suit and a large black, with an orange strip, fedora gave a smug smirk in reply to the old man's question. His mission had been to eliminate the small-scale drug dealing operation, of course it had gone perfectly.

(He was after all, the world's greatest hitman, any less would be insulting)

The old man he faced was known simply as Timoteo di Vongola and was the ninth boss of the Vongola Famiglia. Although not in his prime the seventy-year-old boss was still to be feared as neither his flames nor his fighting prowess had fallen too far and his 'old bones' had not failed him yet.

To most, the image of the elderly man and a baby calmly having a conversation on 'business' may have seemed unnatural and more than a little unsettling. However, this was the mafia and any respectable criminal with connections to the Italian Underground would recognise the baby as an Arcobaleno, a adult cursed to the form of a child.

(And anyway, they lived within a profession that allowed them to summon and fight with flames. A cursed baby wasn't that out of the box!)

The old man simply gave a serene smile in response to Reborn's smirk before placing a folder down in front of the baby any sign of humour completely vacant from his face. The baby raised an eyebrow.

"You're assigning me a new mission this soon?"

"Indeed," the elder of the two flipped open the cover of the folder and gestured to the picture of the man upon the page, "this is Ricardo Helios, boss of a small famiglia specializing in theft and dealing. Recently the man has been spreading rumours of how he has orchestrated the death of the assassin, Kitsune. Obviously, such a claim is doubtful, after all we have employed Kitsune before and can attest to his prowess.

However, it has been seven weeks since Kitsune apparently accepted the job, and there has since been no contact with him. I want you to find both Kitsune and Ricardo as I have need of the fox's services, Ricardo meanwhile is becoming arrogant and bothersome, it seems after his supposed victory over Kitsune he thinks of himself as invincible.

It would be best that he is... taken care of. For good."

Reborn glance down at Ricardo's picture briefly before turning back to Timoteo.

"The Ricardo brat will be dealt with, I can assure you of that. However, next to nothing is known of Kitsune, how would I know where an assassin would hide out, I am the world's greatest hitman, not the world's greatest ninja wannabe,"

Timoteo ignored the heavy sarcasm within Reborn's last words and instead pulled a small strip of paper from his pocket,

"These are the coordinates to Kitsune's most used base, the one I believe he will return to, I could not get hold of his more 'hidden' bases but this should be enough,"

Reborn leaned forward to grab the slip before nodding and turning to leave, but not before a final question.

"So who exactly is Kitsune, to have gained your worry?"

"Simply the son of an old friend,"

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

 **Thanks for reading~**

 **Reviews would really be appreciated guys,**

 **Wingedsilverfang~**

 **Ja ne**


End file.
